Santanu Barua from VestaPlus: Why your Next MLS Won't Look Like Today's

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Overview

Greg Robertson talks with Santanu Barua, CTO of Vesta Plus, the tech platform owned by the Combined LA/Westside MLS (CLAW), about his path into MLS tech, the Checkmate compliance product, and VestaPlus's approach to AI and MCP servers.

Key Takeaways

• Vesta Plus is a wholly owned subsidiary of CLAW, licensing its homegrown MLS tech to other MLSs since 2018
• Santanu's path: EE/CS at University of Houston → mortgage tech at Countrywide (2001–06) → MLS technology since 2006
• Checkmate, born from a talk with former CLAW COO Gigi Marina, catches violations input rules can't (bad remarks, photo violations via computer vision) and automates follow-up
• Products are built modular/extensible so tools like Checkmate can later be sold to other MLSs
• Vesta Plus has its own MCP server, launching soon to members — part of the "headless MLS" trend (Flex MLS/FBS also offers this)
• Data access runs through a controlled API layer, not direct database access, for security
• Greg pitches a "16 core fields + AI chat for everything else" MLS interface idea
• They discuss a possible marketplace for member-built AI tools, like custom GPTs
• New public-facing site (in development ~6 months) will let the public search agents and listings, with agents controlling how much history/testimonials they show
• Santanu's AI philosophy: build deliberately on existing data strengths, prioritize security over speed

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